Un Amour de Swann
by Elske
Summary: Just a little fluffy ficlet in which Governor Swann gets his happy ending. (Apologies to Proust for the title!)


"Un Amour de Swann"

          Governor Swann sighed, softly, staring out of the window at the line the sea made when it touched the sky. He couldn't quite shake a lingering sense of melancholy that had wrapped itself around him; couldn't quite get the idea out of his head that the way things had been turning out just weren't quite _fair_. Everyone else…everyone else had received exactly what they wanted; everyone else was deliriously happy.

          "Sir? I…I hope it's not too bold, sir, but…" a voice began, hesitantly.

          The governor turned, looked over his shoulder at her, brightening when he saw who spoke. "Estrella. Hello."

          The woman smiled, a rather pleased smile, at that. "You seemed…a bit lost, sir." She smiled down at him, one hand coming to rest on the back of his chair.

          It was the governor's turn to smile, although his was a bit sideways, a bit cynical. "Lost. That's exactly the word for it."

          "What…what is it that's troubling you?" Estrella wondered, softly. She knew very well that the governor clung very tightly to the rules of propriety, but…she couldn't stand to see him like that, uncertain, upset. "It might not be my place to ask such a question, but…" 

          He sighed. "It's foolish, really."

          "You can tell me…" she murmured, earnestly, belatedly tacking on the "…sir."

          "It's just…everyone else is so happy. They've the rest of their lives waiting, all laid out for them, and…it doesn't seem quite fair."

          The maid frowned. "Everyone else?"

          "That pirate, for instance. He was supposed to be hanged. And yet…he escaped, went off with the rest of his pirates, sailed off into the sunset."

          Estrella smiled, softly. "Yes. He did." He was a brave man, the governor. She'd heard him telling stories about the great battle they'd had with the pirates aboard the _Dauntless_. He was one of the few people she knew who could speak so matter-of-factly about pirates…remarkable, really. "But you don't know what happened to him next. You don't know what's happening now…do you?"

          "Hmm." Governor Swann frowned. "Yes. Yes, that's true."

          "And what about the Commodore? Your daughter refused to marry him. He's a fine man, and he still hasn't taken a wife. He must be rather lonely," Estrella murmured.

          The Governor smirked. "He's hardly lonely…he's enjoying his bachelorhood. He's enjoying it in a way that would be dangerous if anyone who wasn't such a good friend found out."

          She raised one eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

          Governor Swann shook his head. "Oh, dear, forget I said anything. My tongue runs away with me." It was a good thing that no one else had found out; he'd hate to see his young friend, his protégé ruined for such a triviality. It would be a shame to see that lovely young lieutenant ruined, for that matter. "It would have been fitting for him to have married Elizabeth. She's a dear girl, and he's a fine man."

          "A very smart match," the maid murmured. "A very smart match, indeed. But she followed her heart. It's a very lucky woman…" she whispered, turning, looking down into the governor's eyes, "Who has the liberty to follow her heart." A faint blush tinged her cheeks, as she thought of conversations with the governor in times past, when it was generally agreed that propriety was one thing and matters of the heart quite another and all marriages and even love affairs should fall soundly into the first sphere and quite adamantly never into the second.

          "She is my daughter…I've never denied her _anything_…" the governor said, softly. "And maybe I should have, maybe things would have been better if I wasn't so soft on her. But I couldn't deny her that, I couldn't deny her happiness."

          "Even though he is only a blacksmith?" 

          "Yes." The governor smiled, sadly. "Even though he is only a blacksmith. It's so…unheard of, that. The daughter of a governor marrying a blacksmith."

          "Yes. Unheard of. Unheard of, like a governor marrying a chambermaid," Estrella murmured, without really thinking about what she said, then paled when the words were out of her mouth. "I beg your pardon, sir…it's not my place."

          "No. No, that's quite all right." The gaze he turned down at her was soft, tender, gentle. 

          "Forgive me, I shouldn't…"

          "Speak. Speak as you will…we've already crossed the bounds of propriety a dozen times or more, just tonight."

          She smiled, rather guiltily. "I do beg your pardon. But…"

          "Yes?"

          "It was easy for you to overlook convention where your daughter is concerned. Why should it be any different for yourself?" the woman wondered, meeting his eyes, an expression of hope about her.

          They remained that way for a long moment, before the governor reached up, took her hand, and pulled her quite decisively down into his lap. "It should not be," he whispered. "It shan't be. Not anymore."


End file.
